Hand On Sand…!

“Koodangulam” a coastal village in the state of Tamil Nadu has become more popular in the recent years than before. It is mainly because of the many agitations of good hearted people, who expressed their environmental solidarity for protecting the future of that environmentally endangered zone. My recent visit to the spot and to a few other coastal villages in the same coastal belt of Tamil Nadu revealed yet another ecological danger happening there. The people of Koothankuli and a few other coastal villages nearby were with so much of fear for their lives. There were some bomb blasts and threats from different groups urging the innocent people to nod their heads in favor of the evil occurring. While some people were ready to get the bucks and turn their back, there were a few brave hearts who were determined not to let that evil happen. While I was in that area with a friend of mine, I could eye-witness the thick tension in the air among the people because of this endangering evil happening at their land. I was told by my friend that they had been forced to sell their fertile lands long back in order to satisfy an individual’s thirst for wealth out of the rich natural resources of their land. Imagine, one person exploiting everyone to get his riches go high while the real owners of the lands depend on the crumbs from his pocket. What a misery it is even in this 21^st century! As my friend took me around the sea shore of his place, I could see huge heaps and heaps of sea sand and many sand mining quarries, which really made me feel miserably sad. Since then many questions have been echoing in my mind, “Why has the government failed to stop this environmental degradation for these many years? How cruel can people be in endangering an eco- system in order to increase their wealth forgetting the future of the planet? What can simple villagers do to stop this when there is a political ‘hand on sand’? As I was pondering over all these, my friend whispered in my ears, “Nothing…Nothing can be done…The owner of these mines has a strong political power and he decides the politics of this place. He has been doing this for years and has almost bought the lands of all the villagers giving them huge amount of money.” After hearing all these from the son of that soil, I could feel the deep love that he has for the land but he could do little to stop this evil from happening. Deeply disturbed with the sad reality there, my eyes were opened to see the similar evil happening in front of my eyes every day which I had not paid heed earlier. Yes, when I approached my place near Thiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, I sensed the similar smell of the sand, but with a slight difference. There the sand mining happens at the sea but here it is in the rivers. There are hundreds and hundreds of Lorries in the sand quarries of Kollidam River, quarrying the sand leaving the land in an endangered condition. Seeing the lorries queuing up in the quarries, not only me but many innocent villagers are very much shattered and soul- shaken but none of us is able to put an end to all these because of the political hand on sand. Undoubtedly sand mining causes many ecological evils and it directly affects the wild life of the particular locality. Too much of sand mining is the cause for the erosion of the river bank and it largely damages the bio- diversity. In India, illegal sand mining has been an open secret which was left unnoticed by the governments. But, in the recent months specially after the suspension of a civil servant named Durga Shakthi Nagpal, sand mining has come under the scanner. Of course this strong woman took efforts to clamp down the practice of sand mining for which she had to face the consequences. In many parts of the nation, though there are laws in books to regulate the sand mining, there is a lot of illegal sand mining happening more prevalently. It is mainly because of the political hand on sand. Since they could have the political support in their favor, most of the miners prefer this business as a more suitable one for them. As Mr. Debi Goenka, one of India’s well known environmentalists states boldly, in many states of our nation, sand mining has become a “quick buck-making industry with very little investment. All you need is a truck, laborers, a driver, and a place to go and mine.” Mr. Goenka further adds “a portion of the profits keeps the police happy.” Without doubt, the portion of the profit is precisely the cause for the political hand on sand as well. Environmentalists and human rights activists have repeatedly warned against the illegal sand mining and its evil consequences on the livelihood of the local communities and the eco- system at large. On the bank of river Kollidam, sand mining is posing a big threat to the environment and at present it has become a nuisance for the people of the locality. Every day as I travel on the main road that connects Thanjavur and Ariyalur, I could see the frustration on the faces of the local commuters due to the traffic havoc that the sand-laden Lorries from the sand quarries create. Even during the day time, especially at the peak hours, there is a long queue of sand- laden lorries on the narrow main road creating traffic jam, polluting the fresh air of the place and spoiling the fertile lands for their vested interest. The lorries in the long queue make the public transport, school and college buses wait in queues and make their journey miserable. There have been many accidents and many parts of the area have become accidental prone zone due to the sand- laden trucks.  In spite of all these everyday practical problems, the affected people of the locality remain silent. For they know for sure about the political hand on sand! How can the ordinary people of the locality fight against these everyday agonies that are perpetrated with the support of those in power?. On 17 May, 2012 the CM of TN said, “Illegal mining of sand and smuggling it to neighbouring States has largely been brought under control.” The CM further added, “Over the last one year 4,173 cases of illegal sand mining have been filed, 5,033 persons arrested, 5,501 vehicles seized, a dozen persons taken into preventive custody and Rs 14 crore collected as penalty.” In the recent months, the state government of TN has also ordered investigations on illegal sand mining and announced stringent actions against the same. On 29 Ocotber, 2013 “Chief Minister Jayalalithaa asserted in the Assembly that she was determined to ensure that there was neither any illegal exploitation of precious natural resources nor over-exploitation of such minerals beyond the permitted norms of the government.” It is truly soul soothing to hear such words from the Chief Minister of the state. But there is a deep sorrow within, “What has the government been doing for these many years to curb this illegal mining?. What is the use of ensuring all these now while so much has been looted?” Obviously, it is the primary duty of the government to protect the natural resources of our land from a few individuals, who are ever- ready to loot our precious resources in order to make money. Any government for that matter could protect the environment only when there is no political hand on sand. As long as there is political hand on sand, we cannot protect our land. Only when stringent actions are taken against illegal mining, keeping aside political likes or dislikes, we could actualize our dream of protecting the environment for future.

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